Garment hanger



April 13, 193?. s. L. FULLER 3 GARMENT HANGER Filed March 20, 1935INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a garment hanger and more particularly to adevice of this character particularly adapted for suspending trousers.

An object of the invention is to provide a device for the purpose whichis simple in construction and cheap to manufacture, and wherein theconstruction is such as to particularly adapt it to be made entirely ofmetal.

A further object is to so construct the clamping and. suspending membersof the device as to greatly facilitate the assembly, and further, to soattach the clamping members to the suspending members as to permit theclamping members to maintain parallel relation of their adjacentsurfaces which contact the garment, and thus prevent creasing of thegarment, as would result if these members clamped the garment with themembers in angular relation.

A further object is to provide simple means for yieldingly forcing theclamping members into clamping engagement with the garment, by a simplemovement of a hook forming a part of the suspending means, said hookserving to spread apart cam portions of said suspending and connectingmeans for said clamping members. It is a further object to so constructthe suspending and operating means for the clamping members, that saidmeans may be conveniently formed from spring wire, and the inventionalso consists in certain other new and useful features of theconstruction, arrangement and combination of parts, all as hereinaftermore fully set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,wherein:

Fig, l is a side elevation of a device illustrative of an embodiment ofthe invention and showing portions broken away and in section to moreclearly disclose the construction;

Fig. 2 is a section substantially upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the device substantially upon theline 44 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the device showing the same in openposition to receive the garment between the clamping members.

In order to simplify the construction and its manufacture and assembly,the two garment clamping members I are preferably stamped from sheetmetal with a turned out edge flange 2 extending along the entire edgesand ends of the web portion 3 of each member. Further each member isoifset laterally as at 4 intermediate its ends to provide for thethickened portion of the garment, such as the side seams of the legs oftrousers, and in the upper side of the flange 2 adjacent this offsetportion of each clamping member, are elongated slots or openings 5, andon the web 3 of each clamping mem- 5 her adjacent and below the openings5, are struck out ears 6 each provided with a hole to receive alaterally bent end portion I of the legs 8 of two bails 9 and In, eachbail being formed of wire with a loop or eye I I intermediate or at the10 juncture of the legs 8 of the bails with the upper curved connectingportions I2 and I3 of the bails 9 and I0, which curved portions connectthe upper ends of the legs 8, and these bails are pivotally connected bymeans of a transverse pivot 15 rod I4, the ends of which extend throughthe eyes I I of the two bails and are provided with washers I5 thereonengaging the outer sides of the eyes and the ends of the rod I4 areheaded or riveted down to hold the washers in place, and thus the twobails are pivotally connected.

The legs 8 of the two balls 9 and I0 are offset laterally adjacent theeyes I I to space the clamping members I apart and the looped or camportions I2 and I3 of the bails are so proportioned that when theclamping members are spread apart, as shown in Fig. 5, the loop orcurved portion I2 of one ball will pass partially through the curved orcam portion I3 of the other bail, and a wire hook I6 is pivoted at thelower end of its straight shank portion IT, as at I8, to the pivot rodI4 intermediate the ends of the rod to swing upon its pivot in adirection longitudinally of said rod. The hook is thus free to swingbetween the overlapping cam portions I2 and I3 of the two bails, andwhen the hook is turned to a substantially horizontal position, theloops or cam portions of the two bails are free to pass, the loop I2 alimited distance through the loop I3, and thus allow for the swingingmovement and spreading apart of the clamping members I, but when thishook I6 is turned to a vertical position between the cam portions of thebails, these overlapping cam portions will be spread apart by the shankportion I I of the hook coming therebetween, and thus the two clampingmembers I will be swung toward each other upon their pivot alconnection, or pivot rod I4, to clamp the garment therebetween.

As the two bails are formed of spring wire, the connecting or camportions 9 and II] will yield sufliciently to permit the hook to beturned to a vertical position between these loops regardless of thethickness of the portion of the garment clamped between the members I,and the legs 8 of the bails will also yield under such conditions,applying a yielding clamping force to the two clamping members. Thearrangement of the overlapping curved portions l2 and I3 of the twobails with the suspending hook interposed therebetween, provides asimple clamping action for drawing the members I toward each other witha yielding force and when the garment is suspended by means of the hookIS, the hook will be held thereby in proper position between the twobails to firmly hold the garment clamped. Further with thisconstruction, the assembly of the bails and clamping members I isgreatly facilitated because the laterally bent ends I of the legs 8 ofthe two bails may be readily entered through the slots 5 in the flanges2 and these ends then engaged Within the openings in the ears 6 topivotally attach the members I and bails.

Due to the width of these slots 5 through which the legs of the bailsextend, and the pivotal attachment of the lower ends of the legs to thewebs 3 of said clamping members, each clamping member is free to rocklaterally about the bent ends I of the bails and thus when a garment isclamped between the clamping members by the swinging of the legs of thebails toward each other, the members will rock upon such pivotalconnections, as they come in contact with the garment, and maintain theparallel relation of their inner faces to evenly engage the garment,instead of being held in a vertical inclined position by theirconnection with the bails which would otherwise position the upper edgesof the members closer together than their lower edges and thus clamp thegarment unevenly, causing them to mark or crease the garment by suchuneven pressure thereon.

Further, this manner of connecting the bails ",o the clamping memberspermits the complete assembly of the bails before their attachment tothe clamps, as the ends of the bails may be readily inserted through theopenings 5 after the bails have been pivotally connected by the securingof the pivot rod within the eye I! formed on the bails. With thisarrangement of the hook it the operation of clamping the garment betweenthe clamping members, is greatly facilitated, as these members may bequickly applied to the garment while spread apart, and then by swingingthe hook between the overlapping, curved portions of the bails, saidmembers are forced into clamping position against opposite sides of theinterposed garment, and this locked condition is maintained by thehanging of the garment up by means of the hook.

An all metal garment hanger of simple construction is thus provided andthe operation thereof is facilitated.

Obviously the device may be modified as to details of construction andarrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention,and I do not, therefore, limit myself to the particular construction,arrangement and combination shown.

What I claim is:

1. A garment hanger comprising a pair of opposed clamping members, abail secured at one end to each of said clamping members and extendinglaterally therefrom with said bails pivotally connected togetherintermediate their closed outer curved ends of said bails and spread Ithe same apart and move said clamping members into clamping position,said suspension member being held in midposition of its swingingmovement by the engagement of said bails therewith.

2. A garment hanger comprising a pair of opposed clamping members, abail for each clamping member with the ends of each bail connected to aclamping member with the bail extending laterally therefrom, each bailhaving a closed curved outer end and formed with eyes intermediate itsends, a pivot rod extending through said eyes across said bails topivotally connect said bails, said bails extending from said eyesoutwardly in crossed relation when said clamping members are inseparated position, and a suspension member pivotally attached at oneend to said rod intermediate the ends thereof to swing thereonlongitudinally of said clamping members between said bails to a positionsubstantially parallel with said rod and permit said clamping members tospread apart and to swing to midposition between said bails to spreadthe same apart and move said clamping members into clamping position.

3. A garment hanger comprising a pair of clamping members each formed ofsheet metal with a projecting edge flange and openings in said flange, abail for each clamping member, each bail having leg portions to extendloosely through said openings in said flange, said legs having laterallyturned end portions to pivotally attach said legs to said clampingmembers and permit turning movement of said clamping members upon saidlower ends of said legs in a direction transversely of each clampingmember, each bail being formed with an eye intermediate its ends andwith an outer curved end portion conmeeting the legs of each ball, apivot rod extending through said eyes of said bails to pivotally connectsaid bails and said clamping members, and a suspension member formed Offwire and having a shank portion pivotally attached at one end to saidrod intermediate the ends thereof to swing in a direction longitudinallyof said clamping members between said bails, the closed outer endportions of said bails being arranged to swing, one through the otherinto'crossed relation when said suspension member is swung with itsshank substantially parallel with said rod and to be spread apart by theswinging of said suspension member to midposition with its shank engagedbetween said crossed portions of said bails, said suspension memberhaving a hook portion at its free end for suspending the device from asupport and for holding said suspension member in mid position of itsswinging movement between said bails and hold said clamping members inclamping position.

STUART LAWRENCE FULLER.

